BACK TO CONSCRIPTION?  A former US representative to Taiwan said an all-voluntary military service would reduce the nation’s military strength and capacity to mobilize

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2017
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Foreign academics yesterday urged Taiwan to boost its military power to respond to

China’s rapidly growing military prowess and implement strategies to curb its attempts at gaining dominance over the region.

China has been vastly expanding its military after its fiasco in the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996, in which it was forced to end its missile “tests” targeting Taiwan after the US decided to defend Taiwan by dispatching a carrier battle group (CVBG) to the Taiwan Strait, Japanese congressman Akihisa Nagashima, who formerly served as Japan’s deputy minister of defense, told an international symposium in Taipei hosted by the Taiwan National Security Institute.

To acquire the ability to counter US carriers, China has since 1997 built a fleet of nuclear submarines loaded with anti-ship missiles, greatly increased the range and accuracy of its missiles, and developed fighter jets that are on par with US F-16s and F/A-18s, while increasing its defense budget by 6.2 times, Nagashima said. “The rapid military expansion raises the question: If the same situation in the 1996 Taiwan Missile Crisis happens again, will the US still be able to boldly deploy a CVBG like it did back then?” Nagashima said.    [FULL STORY]

Los Angelese Times
Date: Sep 15, 2017
By: Ralph Jennings

Courts in China and Taiwan, rivals for 70 years, each took a criminal state-security

case this week involving a suspect from the other side, and outcomes so far are baring schisms between the political systems that will complicate already strained relations.

A court in China’s Hunan province heard the case Monday against Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese activist charged with subversion of state power. He faces 10 years in a Chinese prison if convicted of using social media since 2012 to advocate multiparty democracy for the Communist country.

On Friday, the district court in Taipei sentenced Chinese national Zhou Hongxu to 14 months in prison for endangering state security. The 29-year-old MBA holder tried to bribe a government worker to pass information to China, a court statement says.

These cases are reminders of the festering divide between Taiwan — with its 30-year democracy — and China’s Communist rule. In Taiwan, it raises support for its autonomy from Beijing and frustrates China’s goal of uniting the two lands. China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan.

“These cases will remind people China’s not a free country ruled by law — maybe politically motivated — and people will ask the government here how to handle that,” said Gratiana Jung, senior political researcher with the Taipei think tank Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-15

President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday attended an event marking the 196th anniversary of

the Central American region’s independence from Spain. The event was held at a hotel in Taipei and was attended by representatives from Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. The countries are all diplomatic allies of Taiwan.

Tsai said that Taiwan shared the historical experience of being a place that was colonized and had to find its route to freedom. She hailed the alliance between Taiwan and the Central American nations and pledged to maintain cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure projects. She also said Taiwan will seek to import goods from its Central American partners.

The ambassador from Honduras, Rafael Sierra, said his country greatly cherishes its friendship with Taiwan. He said his country will continue to work for more trade and investment opportunities that create employment, as well as more exchanges in academia, culture and technology. Sierra said Taiwan is an ideal partner for countries in Central America in terms of economics and also politics.    [FULL  STORY]

Beef from the Netherlands and Sweden also to get green light

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A 14-year ban on the import of beef from Japan, the

Netherlands and Sweden over fears of mad cow disease is coming to an end, reports said Friday.

On July 17, the Ministry of Health and Welfare presented documents about beef imports from the three countries, inviting comments and suggestions for a period of 60 days.

That period came to an end on September 15, meaning the import is likely to start up with the approval of the government.

An MOHW official said most of the ideas offered by the public related to import procedures, timing and the benefits of the opening, according to media reports. The final version of the MOHW draft document would thus not undergo any major changes, and safety checks would not be compromised, the official was quoted as saying.    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/15
By: Yang Shu-min and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) Unwilling to wait for the new premier to amend controversial

work rules that took effect late last year, major business associations proposed a package of revisions Friday that would relax the rigid overtime and working hour restrictions.

The proposed revisions to the much-criticized 40-hour-workweek rules passed by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government focus on making overtime more flexible and simplify how overtime hours and pay are calculated, said Tsai Lian-sheng (蔡練生), secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Chinese National Federation of Industries.

The proposal includes increasing the current cap on overtime hours at 46 per month to a maximum of 300 overtime hours every six months, with no more than 60 overtime hours allowed to be worked in any single month.    [FULL  STORY]

Sunshine State News
Date: September 14, 2017
By: Kevin Derby

This week, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., the vice chairman of the U.S. House Foreign

Affairs Subcommittee and the chairman of the U.S. House Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, continued his efforts to support Taiwan and ensure the U.S. maintains a strong relationship with that nation.

On Wednesday, Yoho spoke about his observations when he and other congressional leaders, including U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited several Asian nations in recent weeks.

Yoho noted that Taiwan is one of America’s strongest trading partners, ranking eight for U.S. agriculture exports and as the U.S.’s tenth largest trade partner overall. The North Florida Republican, who also sits on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, pointed to recent agreements as Taiwan plans to bring in 360 million bushels of U.S. grain which will sell for more than $2.8 billion.   [FULL  STORY]

A Taiwanese man has failed in his appeal against a NT$600,000 (about US$20,000) fine from the Civil Aeronautics Administration for flying a drone into a restricted area twice.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/14
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A Taiwanese man has failed in his appeal against a

NT$600,000 (aboutUS$20,000) fine from the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) for flying a drone into a restricted area twice.

PhotoFast CEO Warren Wang (王龍文) said he will not appeal against the court decision.

Wang had also faced an allegation of prying into the secrets of national defense, which was later dismissed by prosecutors.

Wang said the drone flew out of the balcony of his home last year due to loss of control from malfunction. He said he was developing a switch to be used for transmitting drone-recorded video to iPhone for real-time sharing via wireless network.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/14
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) on Thursday

issued a report that found nearly 80,000 re-hired migrant workers have so far benefited from a law that went into effect last November scrapping a previous maximum stay requirement.

The amendment to Article 52 of the Employment Services Act, which went into effect on Nov. 5, 2016, eliminated the requirement for migrant workers to leave the country after reaching the maximum permitted stay period, before returning to continue working. As a result, from last November to the end of August, 78,917 migrant workers did not have to leave.

Prior to the amendment, Article 52 required foreign workers in Taiwan to leave the country for at least one day after working for three years — the longest contract allowed — before being allowed to continue employment.    [FULL  STORY]